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FBI Director James Comey (L) and National Security Agency Director Mike Rogers take their seats at a House Intelligence Committee hearing into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., March 20, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts WASHINGTON Some Republican lawmakers appear to be reassessing whether to make changes to a surveillance law that allows broad snooping of Internet communications, citing concerns over the handling of classified intercepts after leaks of conversations between Russian officials and American associates of President Donald Trump. The law, known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, allows U.S. intelligence agencies to collect vast amounts of communications from foreigners, but often incidentally scoops up the communications of Americans. Until recently most Republicans have been quick to defend Section 702 and Congress had been expected to renew it without major changes before it expires at the end of the year. Though long criticized by privacy advocates, a new front of potential opposition to Section 702 has emerged as Republicans sputter about what they view as politically motivated leaks by the agencies amid probes of any collusion between the Russian government and Trump’s 2016 presidential election campaign. The tensions burst into full view on Monday at a U.S. House of Representatives’ Intelligence Committee hearing, during which FBI Director James Comey confirmed his agency was investigating those ties. Republican Representative Tom Rooney told Comey and National Security Agency Director Mike Rogers, who also testified, that concern over leaks would undermine support for…more detail

WASHINGTON The House of Representatives Intelligence Committee called on the Trump administration on Wednesday to provide them with what they expect will be thousands of documents related to the investigation of Russian efforts to influence the 2016 election. The request may be an effort to avoid a repeat of an unusual document access arrangement made between the Senate Intelligence Committee and CIA to review information related to enhanced interrogation techniques at secret overseas "black site" prisons during the George W. Bush administration. Under that arrangement, Senate investigators were limited to reviewing documents on a shared computer network set up at…... [read more]

Jan 19 (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump formally named former Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue as his nominee for secretary of agriculture on Thursday, officially completing the selection of his Cabinet, his transition team said in a statement. Here is a list of Republican Trump's selections for top jobs in his administration. NOTE: Senate confirmation is required for all the posts except national security adviser and White House posts. SECRETARY OF STATE: REX TILLERSON Tillerson, 64, has spent his entire career at Exxon Mobil Corp, where he rose to chairman and chief executive officer in 2006. A civil engineer by…... [read more]

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump formally named former Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue as his nominee for secretary of agriculture on Thursday, officially completing the selection of his Cabinet, his transition team said in a statement. Here is a list of Republican Trump's selections for top jobs in his administration. NOTE: Senate confirmation is required for all the posts except national security adviser and White House posts. SECRETARY OF STATE: REX TILLERSON Tillerson, 64, has spent his entire career at Exxon Mobil Corp, where he rose to chairman and chief executive officer in 2006. A civil engineer by training, the Texan joined…... [read more]

Donald Trump now accepts Russia targeted the US election, his chief of staff claims Reince Priebus said Donald Trump "accepts the fact that in this particular case it was entities in Russia" that were behind the intrusions into the Democratic Party organisations and operatives. Speaking on Fox News Sunday, Mr Priebus said the President-elect plans to order the intelligence community to make recommendations as to what should be done. He warned "actions may be taken.” Mr Trump, who is regularly active on social networking site Twitter, is yet to release an official statement on whether he accepts the findings of…... [read more]

WASHINGTON, Jan 8 (Reuters) - The top Republican and Democrat on the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee on Sunday cast doubt on whether Russia can become an ally of the United States, an idea President-elect Donald Trump has embraced. Republican Devin Nunes, chairman of the committee, said on "Fox News Sunday" he would like to see a U.S.-Russia friendship but does not know if it is possible. Adam Schiff, the committee's ranking Democrat, said on CNN it would be great if Russia could be an ally, but, "It's not realistic and we need to be clear eyed and sober about…... [read more]

WASHINGTON The top Republican and Democrat on the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee on Sunday cast doubt on whether Russia can become an ally of the United States, an idea President-elect Donald Trump has embraced. Republican Devin Nunes, chairman of the committee, said on "Fox News Sunday" he would like to see a U.S.-Russia friendship but does not know if it is possible. Adam Schiff, the committee's ranking Democrat, said on CNN it would be great if Russia could be an ally, but, "It's not realistic and we need to be clear eyed and sober about just what the Russians…... [read more]

WASHINGTON The top Democrats on the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives intelligence committees said on Friday a report on Russian activity related to the 2016 U.S. election should inspire a strong response to prevent a repeat."The strength of America's democracy will be measured, in part, on how we respond, and the steps we take to develop a robust and proactive cyber strategy," said Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate panel. Representative Adam Schiff, his counterpart on the House panel, said Congress must undertake "thorough investigations" to determine what happened and how, and how to protect the U.S.…... [read more]

As Russian diplomats expelled by Barack Obama left the US on Sunday, Donald Trump’s incoming White House spokesman attempted to cast as a diplomatic triumph the president-elect’s controversial response to intelligence community reports that Moscow sought to influence the presidential election. “That’s actually good for our country,” Sean Spicer told ABC’s This Week, referring to Russian president Vladimir Putin’s decision not to pursue immediate retaliation. “So everyone wants to talk about the tweets that he sends but I want to focus on the action that he’s getting. Donald Trump’s not president yet and he’s getting action, successes and wins both…... [read more]

By Mark Hosenball and Jonathan Landay | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON Former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden "has had and continues to have contact" with Russian intelligence services, according to a newly declassified U.S. House of Representatives Intelligence Committee report released on Thursday. The Pentagon found 13 undisclosed "high risk" security issues caused by Snowden's release to media outlets of tens of thousands of the U.S. eavesdropping agency's most sensitive documents, the report said. If China or Russia obtained access to information on eight of the 13 issues, "American troops will be at greater risk in any future conflict," said the…... [read more]

Donald Trump’s top aides have said the US president-elect is not ready to accept the finding by intelligence officials that Moscow hacked Democratic emails in a bid to elevate the billionaire property mogul. And they stressed that even if it were true, Republican Mr Trump still won the White House fair and square. Meanwhile, members of the Electoral College will formally cast votes for Mr Trump as the nation’s 45th president on Monday. Complete confidence that Trump will win the Electoral College vote on Monday with ease. That being said, I'll be glad when it's over. :-)— Bill Mitchell (@mitchellvii)…... [read more]